"Girls, get behind Bertrand!" Anna's grandpa yelled. A low growl rumbled out of the bulky black bear as he trotted over to them, his half-eaten cup of pecans forgotten.

Anna and Taylor rushed behind her grandpa's companion. If anyone could protect them, it was Bertrand. "What's going on?" Anna asked.

Her grandpa looked through the ice cream shop's front window, his forehead wrinkled with concentration. "Something that's attracting quite a crowd. Can't see through all the people."

Onlookers clustered outside the bakery across the street, pushing and shoving as they struggled to get a good view of whatever they were looking at. This was no mere lunchtime rush. No, this was a mob.

"They're by Cake Kingdom, aren't they?" There was no worry in the employee's voice, only tired resignation. Her pigeon cooed as it swiveled its head to join everyone in staring out the window.

"Does this happen often?" Anna's grandpa stood on his tiptoes as he tried to get a glimpse of what had folks so worked up.

"Often enough that it costs us a lot of customers." The employee rummaged behind the counter before pulling out a tranquilizer gun. The long, bright orange weapon lacked the bulkiness and dark colors of a regular gun but could just as easily subdue large companions. "I need to put the store on lockdown in case people's companions get too riled up. Sorry, but you've gotta either leave or be stuck in here for however long it takes folks to settle down."

"We'd better get to the truck." Anna's grandpa put a firm hand on Bertrand's shoulder. The bear stopped growling but stayed firmly planted between the kids and the commotion outside. "Thanks for the lovely ice cream. I hope business improves so more people get the chance to try it."

They left the store with Bertrand standing between them and the increasingly large crowd outside. Onlookers turned to stare at the bear, with some backing away before realizing he wasn't acting agitated and returning their attention to the scene outside Cake Kingdom.

Mr. Voorhees blocked the entrance with his arms crossed and his fox lashing its tail. "Sir, as I've already told you, you'll have to pay full price for the cake pops or leave."

"I called to confirm how much they cost yesterday, but you raised the price on me." Anna could see the customer now. His frame matched his wolf's, all lean muscle with fierce brown eyes to match. Yet, despite his intimidating appearance, his voice was more firm than angry. "I was going to get some for my daughter's birthday."

"Yes, well, when more people want something, it usually gets more expensive. That's how supply and demand work." Mr. Voorhees's fox parted its jaws in an easy grin. While the wolf kept its teeth carefully concealed, the other canine had no qualms about displaying its fangs.

"So you raised the price to take advantage of me?" The customer's voice was sharp, but there was something hiding beneath his anger. Something as bitter as dark chocolate.

Murmuring broke out among the watching crowd.

"He's got a point. That doesn't sound fair."

"This place is always so busy. I'm surprised they didn't raise the prices sooner."

"I swear carnivore owners will fight over the silliest things."

The muttering rose in volume as more and more people debated who was in the right. That agitation spread through everyone's companions until a chorus of stamping, snorting, and snarling nearly drowned out the confrontation at the forefront of it all.

"I've never seen folks get so mad before," Taylor whispered. Her flies clung to her as her voice trembled.

Anna pulled her closer, silently directing her bees to form a protective cloud around them. If anyone tried to hurt them, hopefully the wall of stingers would be enough to keep them away, assuming Bertrand couldn't.

The bear huffed at a bull that wandered too close, earning an indignant moo as the massive herbivore backed away. "If we could just get to the truck..." Anna's grandpa muttered.

But the crowd was too thick for them to pass through. Even when she peeked from behind Bertrand, Anna couldn't spot her grandpa's truck through the sea of cantankerous companions. One false move could ignite the mob into something much more dangerous.

Mr. Voorhees's smile was the least friendly expression Anna had ever seen, filled with false sweetness and condescension as if he was talking to a preschooler. "It's not my fault you can't afford the new price. If you want cheap, subpar baked goods, Cake Kingdom is not for you."

The customer held Mr. Voorhees's stare, and his wolf's bark echoed in Anna's ears. Chipmunks scurried down shirts and a horse whinnied in fear as the crowd waited for the carnivore to attack.

But it wouldn't. No, Anna had spent enough time around her grandma's coyote to know what an anxious canine looked like. The wolf flattened its ears against its head and tucked its tail close to its belly, raising its hackles.

This wasn't right.

Anna's bees buzzed sharply as she moved to speak up, but her grandpa put a hand on her arm. "Too dangerous," he whispered, nodding toward the increasingly agitated crowd.

Taylor slipped Anna's hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. Anna returned the gesture with a grateful, if fleeting, smile as her bees quieted to a steady humming.

The customer sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Come on, Brutus," he said, patting his wolf's back. "We've wasted enough time here."

Brutus whined softly before licking his owner's hand. The crowd parted to allow the two of them to leave, staring at them even after they got in their car.

With the excitement over, people and their companions went about their days as if nothing had happened. Mr. Voorhees went back inside Cake Kingdom, followed by his fox and a line of customers.

Now that the coast was clear, Bertrand shielded the girls from the remaining onlookers' preying eyes as Anna's grandpa led them to his truck. The instant he got in the driver's seat, he let out a massive sigh. "I'm sorry you kids had to see that."

"Why didn't you say something?" Anna asked. Mr. Voorhees had been awful to that customer, yet her grandpa hadn't said a single word against him.

In that moment, her grandpa looked older than she'd ever seen him. "There was a time when I would have. Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to march right up to Herb and give him a piece of my mind. But I have to keep you two safe. When someone has a large meat-eating companion, people tend to assume they'll be more aggressive and dangerous."

"But you and Bertrand would never hurt anyone," Anna said. She'd never even heard him raise his voice, and despite how big Bertrand was, he was as gentle as a bunny.

"You and I know that, but all folks who don't know me see is a big bear with huge teeth and paws the size of their face."

"Kind of reminds me how people started treating me differently once I got my flies," Taylor said quietly. "They paid so much attention to them it's like they totally forgot about me."

"Believe it or not, things used to be even worse," Anna's grandpa said grimly. "When I was younger, I'd be lucky if restaurants would let me inside because of my bear. The only attention this mess would have gotten is the police muzzling that poor wolf."

Anna shuddered. The way Mr. Voorhees treated that customer had been awful enough as it was. "I can't imagine ever treating anyone like that."

"That's because you're a good kid, Cupcake." Her grandpa smiled at her and Taylor in the rearview mirror. "You both are, always trying to speak up for what's right. The future will be much brighter because of people like you."

"It's easy when I have such a great grandpa." As soon as those words left Anna's mouth, a realization washed over her like a blast of hot air from the oven. "Do you think Connor's grandpa is why he acts the way he does?"

"That wouldn't surprise me," he said. "When you grow up around someone who acts a certain way, it can be hard to realize that's not the only way to do things. That's a big part of why I worked in construction when I was younger. That's all my parents ever expected me to do, so it wasn't easy to give myself permission to do what I actually wanted to."

"I'm so glad my parents have always been super nice about me painting all the time," Taylor said.

"And I'm lucky I've spent so much time at Sweet Surprise." Anna's voice cracked. "I don't know what I'll do if we have to shut it down."

"No matter what happens," her grandpa said, "as long as there are people like you who treat folks right no matter who they are or what their companions are, then everything Sweet Surprise stands for will live on."

Keeping Sweet Surprise open was about so much more than just being able to keep doing what she loved, Anna realized. It was about fighting for a place where everyone from the tiniest termite to the biggest bear was welcome.